Buddy Hall vs Steve Mizerak, who had the nicer stroke?
- Thread starter Samiel
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Er uh , okay. I played him in a local $5 8⃣ ball tournament an, well I didn't See That at All!!!!
Oh he even gave us (my wife and I) Dart lessons as a Bonus. A signed copy of his book as well. Pretty sure we tipped well. He gave us some rock solid tips as well.
Did you tell Mizerak he'd play better if he'd only look at CB last??????????????Er uh , okay. I played him in a local $5 8⃣ ball tournament an, well I didn't See That at All!!!!
Pretty sure that was when I looked at object ball last. I got it from Mosconi's book. Not sure what or if Steve (I can call him Steve
) addresses it in his book. I will look. The fact that I broke and ran probably blocked any pointers from him.
Well at pool. He gave a complete lesson at the dart board. He opened with 3 in a bed.
Allen Hopkins comes to mind.
of course, but they're not mutually exclusive
Mike did have a super powerful stroke and was a very good player. But his power did not translate as well to winning tournaments as did Steve's. Steve was the dominant American player of the 1970's and 80's until Earl dethroned him. Mike was always a good player and a threat to beat anyone, but was a full speed under Steve.Well for sure you have had the opportunity to observe all the best. I gotta wonder why Mike Masey doesn't get that nod. Shrug. His table length draw on a full ball jump shot still comes to my mind. It was executed in 84 or 85 at the Tahoe tournament and a diagram of the shot made it into a Robert Byrne book. They called him Tennessee Tarzan for a reason.
Oh and what about the description of Efren's stroke? Early on, I remember someone calling it "A Pump Handle Stroke". It sure worked for him though.
Earl and Parica deserve mention for both having the most repeatable strokes. They basically looked the same on every shot, in full control of the cue ball and object balls. The two best players overall of their era, with only Sigel, Buddy and maybe Varner in the same conversation.
Efren and Bustamante were outliers. It was impossible to categorize them. No one had ever seen two such good players with such weird strokes. People made fun of them while they were robbing everyone. I saw some great players ridicule them while making games and get very quiet after they got drilled. Yep!
I'll throw in Keith because people always ask me about him. No one before or since played pool like Keith. He had more stances and bridges than all the rest of us put together. He would twist, bend and shape his body into all kinds of positions while shooting. Nothing he did was in any instruction book or video. He played pool like a great guitar player played the guitar. You never knew what you were going to see next. And he made it work! That made all the other players afraid of him. He was a freak of nature! And a lovable one at that. But pool was only one of his many vices. Keith tasted everything the gambling life had to offer.
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A very good exhibition show with Grady, that came to the northwest. Hopefully they did okay. His testimony was pretty moving. His shots put on display were incredible. While I couldn't replicate, I have used the principles.
Efren was the only player I saw that could aproach his air borne shots. AND! I only saw Efren shot one jump shot. But it was a doozie.
He had played a lock up safety leaving whitey in the Jaws and no way out. A fluked ball gave him the shot. He not only got a hit but a hit and hook.
He Got Lucky. ......often. 
Sure thing.Er uh , okay. I played him in a local $5 8⃣ ball tournament an, well I didn't See That at All!!!!
Well I borked the joke. The punch line is "he didn't shoot."
With all due respect to Mizerak, Buddy had the most ridiculously smooth stroke I've ever seen in the pool world. He made the game look so easy. It's a delivery it's nearly impossible to emulate, it looks like he's just pushing the ball. Stephen Lee was mentioned and he has that same kind of delivery in snooker. It looks like he's not doing anything, but the cueball has all kinds of spin on it and lands on a dime. Stephen Lee had the best of both worlds in my opinion, the power of Mizerak and the smoothness of Hall, but being the best player is more than just the stroke. Hall had extreme pool IQ as well, almost always chose the right way to run out. It must have been a nightmare to play him for money in his prime.
They both have a quite low center-of-gravity !!
I recall the story of Efren's first appearance as Ceasar Morales. Including playing all challenges back to back to back. Buddy was the only one to win a set.
Definitely a smooth stroke and operator as well.
Being from the north wet, I must mention The Hat. He had such a fluid stroke that was ?????
similar to cracking a whip.Operator indeedI recall the story of Efren's first appearance as Ceasar Morales. Including playing all challenges back to back to back. Buddy was the only one to win a set.
Definitely a smooth stroke and operator as well.
